Buy an Engine or tune it up?
First thing first though, diagnosis first. I’ll let you know what the diagnosis is once I get it. This next post is a description of what is involved, and why a Buick Engine that has 100,000 mile tuneup intervals costs at least 1000.00 dollars and probably a lot more.
To put it in the simplest terms possible, about one half of the ‘top end’ of the engine has to be taken apart to do a full ‘tune up’ on this 5.7L Buick engine. Since so much of the engine has to be disassembled, it is a good time to replace several components that would require a full disassembly of the top end again should one of the parts go bad in a month or a year. Essentially, you are saving money and aggregation by doing the job ‘right’ the first time.
It may sound like a lot of extra work, but you need to perform a compression test to make sure you don’t have a weak cylinder from a burnt valve, cracked head, burnt piston or bad piston rings. If you have a compression problem you may want to stop at this point and price out a low mileage used engine or a quality rebuilt engine with all the related parts I suggest below installed on the engine before you drop it in.
Warning: This is a good time to buy Factory original parts. Buy the best parts made. Don’t scrimp here. Cheap parts are not good and good parts are not cheap. Believe me, if you cheat here, there is no point in even doing the job.
Since we have to remove the air filter and assorted shields and parts that cover most of engine, it is a good idea to have a factory service manual. Mark your components as you remove them. After you can see the engine, the battery cables and wires need to be disconnected and marked and methodically set aside or out of the way. The intake system has to be removed, valve covers, fuel injectors, water pump and all of the other components bolted to the engine or are in the way. That means the air conditioner, power steering pump and radiator assembly.
As you can see it is a lot of work, best left for a professional with experience in this type of engine work. I want to mention again that since the magnitude of this engine repair is way up there some of the components I take off will get junked since they have over 70,000 miles on them and they are likely to fail the near future. Which means the engine has to be taken apart to some degree again, causing a labor charge on top of the part/s. Be smart fix it right the first time. Save money and aggravation.
The couple of related components I change during the ‘tune up’ process are:
1. Water pump. A New One, Not Rebuilt….
2. Thermostat and housing.
3. Timing chain cover gaskets and seals. Check the timing chain, good time to replace that too.
4. All of the radiator and heater hoses and clamps.
5. Any other component you spot that is questionable and hard to get at.
Doing this repair is routine for me, But it is anything but routine for the average home mechanic. It may sound silly, but some folks may consider replacing the engine with a rebuilt engine is more practical. With the fact that a properly rebuilt engine does not cost much more than a thorough tune up and every thing will be as if it was ‘new’ again, give GotEngines.com a call @ 1-888-344-8044 and compare prices. You may find a rebuilt Buick engine is the most cost effective and reliable way to go.
